| It was December 31, 2011. I found myself at a New Year’s gathering, sitting at a table next to my friend, a retired doctor, Dr. Robert Easton, known affectionately as Dr. Bob. I was pouring my heart out to him. I was 43 years old. I had gained weight that winter. I weighed 160, and I was embarrassed. My face was all broken out. I had recently discovered a cyst growing on the side of my face that I had to have removed by a dermatologist. I wasn’t well. I had fairly severe anemia due to heavy menstruation, as my hemoglobin level was just 8.3 (which should be between 12 and 16). I was weak and exhausted. For the first time in my life, I had arthritis in my hands. My body felt like a giant blob of inflammation. I would barely bump something and feel sore. Alarmed after having had a painful and prolonged period that month which lasted 19 days, I had gone to my gynecologist and learned that I had more uterine fibroid tumors (ultimately 8 fibroids would be found), along with the sobering news that I was going to need surgery. One option presented was a hysterectomy. In 1999, at the age of 30, I learned of my first uterine fibroid. It was discovered during an ultrasound, which my doctor ordered after I experienced a miscarriage. This was when I was still eating SAD (Standard American Diet). Unaware that a change in diet could have made a difference, I had surgery (a myomectomy) to remove the fibroid. Even the surgeon claimed that my fibroid had nothing to do with diet, and blamed it on my genes. Because fibroid tumors can grow with pregnancies, I was concerned that the fibroid in my body might have caused the miscarriage or that it might harm a future baby should I get pregnant again. So I trusted the surgeon: I thought I could solve my problem by simply having it cut out. What I didn’t know was that the myomectomy could eliminate my future chances of getting pregnant, due to scar tissue that would form. And that is exactly what happened. So on that New Year’s Eve in 2011, I was feeling awfully depressed. Not only were my husband and I unable to have children, but here I was suffering from these awful periods and other related health issues. It seemed unfair like I was being doubly punished. If I couldn’t have kids, why did I need to menstruate at all? I was also disappointed that my vegan diet, which I had been eating since 2003, and which had completely eliminated my seasonal allergies, was doing nothing for my other health issues. I went vegan solely for animals and not for any health reasons, but I guess I was secretly wishing that my Oreo cookies and vegan cheesecake would help me out. (Did you know that Oreo cookies are vegan?) That night Dr. Bob said to me, “You know, Tonya, you can turn this around.” He talked to me briefly about switching to a healthy, oil-free vegan diet. He left, went home, and returned with a book, The McDougall Program for Women, by Dr. John McDougall, which he loaned me. | 